Low Carb Dieting

Low-carbohydrate diets are the current “in” method used to shed pounds and reveal those muscles you’ve worked hard to gain. But how much stock is there in all these low-carb diets that you see everywhere? And will they be any more beneficial to helping you shed that layer of fat?

Understanding the principles behind low-carb dieting will help you determine whether this diet approach is right for you. To help you make that decision, we’ll take a look at why low-carb dieting works, the drawbacks of low-carb dieting and how you should adapt your training while on a low-carb diet.

why low-carb diets work

Water weight loss

When most people begin low-carb dieting, they’ll initially see a significant change on the scale. This really sparks some excitement in them since they think that they’ve finally found that “miracle cure” to shedding excess body fat. While this is a good thing for motivation and for program adherence, it’s important to realize that much of the initial weight loss of a low-carb diet is due to water being flushed out of the system.

As the muscle glycogen is depleted (since you’re taking in fewer carbs than you were previously), water will also be depleted. By understanding this process, you will then not get as discouraged when the rate of weight loss slows the following week. Recognize that while this new weight loss may be slower, it is more representative of true weight loss — weight loss that is much more likely to stay off.

Likewise, with this same principle, realize that after you have obtained your goal with the diet, and should you decide to abandon it for a more moderate carbohydrate approach, you could see some temporary water weight come back as your body adjusts. Once again, give this a few days and things should normalize.

Hunger control

The next reason that makes people find success with low-carb dieting is that many will find that hunger becomes almost nonexistent. Because carbohydrates typically promote the greatest response to insulin, which then causes you to be hungry once it falls, removing them from your diet will help you control insulin levels and really keep hunger at bay.

Furthermore, if you drop your intake of carbohydrates to really low levels (5% of total calories or less), you could move into a state called ketosis (a state in which your body moves from using carbohydrates as a fuel source to using fat instead), which is an incredibly powerful mechanism for avoiding hunger. Do note that some individuals find that they don’t feel well when they reach ketosis and as such, carbohydrates should not reach levels that are that low.

Fewer food choices

Last, but not least, low-carb dieting works really well because people are forced to remove many of the typical foods that people tend to binge on. Things like pasta, bread, rice, potatoes, and bagels will all be removed from the diet, and as a result you’ll take in fewer calories.

Obviously, this can be offset if you dig into a huge 12-ounce steak every night, but as long as you are smart about your meat and fat selection, the diet is quite simple.

drawbacks to low-carb dieting

Energy levels

While low-carb dieting definitely has its advantages, it’s important to recognize the drawbacks in order to give them a fair evaluation.